Yngvar Nilssen has worked at the Cancer Registry of Norway since autumn 2012 and has until September 2017, in addition to his period as a research fellow, been employed as a statistician at the Registry Department. As of autumn 2017, Nilssen has been employed in a shared position: 75% postdoctoral fellow on the project "Evaluation of cancer patient pathways in Norway" and 25% statistician affiliated with the National Quality Registry for Lung Cancer. Nilssen graduated as a civil engineer in physics and mathematics from NTNU in Trondheim in 2011. In 2016 he completed his PhD at the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Oslo, entitled "A population-based study of lung cancer in Norway – the importance of resection rate and factors associated with treatment and survival".
Yngvar Nilssen has worked at the Cancer Registry of Norway since autumn 2012 and has until September 2017, in addition to his period as a research fellow, been employed as a statistician at the Department of Registration.
As of autumn 2017, Nilssen has been employed in a shared position: 75% postdoctoral fellow on the project "Evaluation of package pathways in Norway" and 25% statistician affiliated with the National Quality Registry for Lung Cancer.
Nilssen has a great interest in data analysis and statistical modelling. Through a stay abroad during the fellowship period, a collaboration was established with the Research Department at the Cancer Council NSW in Australia.
Nilssen holds a master's degree in physics and mathematics from NTNU in Trondheim from 2011 after submitting his master's thesis "Survival Analysis using Integrated Nested Laplace Approximations: A Case Study of House Sparrows from Aldra".
After working one year as a statistician at the Cancer Registry, Nilssen began a PhD in 2013, which he completed in 2016 at the Faculty of Medicine, at University of Oslo, entitled "A population-based study of lung cancer in Norway – the importance of resection rate and factors associated with treatment and survival".
Evaluation of cancer patient pathways in Norway:
Through the implementation of cancer patient pathways in Norway from 1 January 2015, the Norwegian Directorate of Health aimed at a well-organised and predictable patient pathway, without unnecessary non-medical delays related to assessment, diagnosis, treatment and/or rehabilitation. The intention was to provide both patients and their families with predictability and security throughout the cancer patient pathway. This project evaluates the introduction of patient pathways by looking at both inclusion in pathways, the process itself, and various outcomes.
The project links together data from the Cancer Registry, Statistics Norway and the Norwegian Patient Registry. By connecting these data sources, we want to shed light on the following punks:
- Is there a selection in the patients who are sent into the cancer patient pathway?
- Are waiting times different for patients inside vs outside of the cancer patient pathway?
- Have waiting times been reduced?
- Are there socioeconomic differences in waiting times?
- Has the cancer patient pathway led to a more equal health service in Norway regardless of where the patient lives?
- Have there been any changes in the prognosis of postoperative mortality?
INEC – Safety and feasibility of irradiation and nivolumab in esophageal cancer - A phase I/II trial.
The project will look at the safety and feasibility of administering the PD-1 inhibitor Nivolumab in addition to standard treatment in three different cohorts, one of which is palliative and two is curative. The goal is to evaluate the introduction of PD-1 blockers into standard care, and monitor patients' side effects.
Nilssen Y, Brustugun OT, Eriksen MT, Haug ES, Naume B, Møller B (2020)
Patient and tumour characteristics associated with inclusion in Cancer patient pathways in Norway in 2015-2016
BMC Cancer, 20 (1), 488
DOI 10.1186/s12885-020-06979-y, PubMed 32473650
Nilssen Y, Brustugun OT, Tandberg Eriksen M, Gulbrandsen J, Skaaheim Haug E, Naume B, Møller B (2019)
Decreasing waiting time for treatment before and during implementation of cancer patient pathways in Norway
Cancer Epidemiol, 61, 59-69
DOI 10.1016/j.canep.2019.05.004, PubMed 31153048
Robsahm TE, Helsing P, Nilssen Y, Vos L, Rizvi SMH, Akslen LA, Veierød MB (2018)
High mortality due to cutaneous melanoma in Norway: a study of prognostic factors in a nationwide cancer registry
Clin Epidemiol, 10, 537-548
PubMed 29780262
Skyrud KD, Bray F, Eriksen MT, Nilssen Y, Møller B (2016)
Regional variations in cancer survival: Impact of tumour stage, socioeconomic status, comorbidity and type of treatment in Norway
Int J Cancer, 138 (9), 2190-200
PubMed 26679150
Nilssen Y, Strand TE, Fjellbirkeland L, Bartnes K, Møller B (2015)
Lung cancer survival in Norway, 1997-2011: from nihilism to optimism
Eur Respir J, 47 (1), 275-87
PubMed 26541525
Nilssen Y, Strand TE, Fjellbirkeland L, Bartnes K, Brustugun OT, O'Connell DL, Yu XQ, Møller B (2015)
Lung cancer treatment is influenced by income, education, age and place of residence in a country with universal health coverage
Int J Cancer, 138 (6), 1350-60
PubMed 26421593
Nilssen Y, Strand TE, Wiik R, Bakken IJ, Yu XQ, O'Connell DL, Møller B (2014)
Utilizing national patient-register data to control for comorbidity in prognostic studies
Clin Epidemiol, 6, 395-404
PubMed 25368532
Fosså SD, Nilssen Y, Kvåle R, Hernes E, Axcrona K, Møller B (2013)
Treatment and 5-year survival in patients with nonmetastatic prostate cancer: the Norwegian experience
Urology, 83 (1), 146-52
PubMed 24238563
